1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices and methods for driving support stakes for animal guards.
2. Prior Art Relating to the Disclosure
Browse-guards protect tender young tree seedlings from being eaten by animals, such as mountain beaver, porcupine, and deer. After growing for a few years, a tree is not seriously injured by browse feeding and the guard must be removed in some manner as the tree grows larger. Installation of a browse-guard on each seedling is an expensive, labor-intensive operation and manual removal of such guards could also be expensive, particularly when dealing with the large numbers of seedlings required for reforestation of a clear-cut area or a forest-fire devastated area.
One type of meshed browse-guard has diamond-shaped grid openings and is fabricated of high-density polyethylene and polypropylene materials which degrade after several years of exposure of ultraviolet radiation. Degradation is controlled by the addition of appropriate ultraviolet inhibitors. After several years, this type of guard has been found to deteriorate in an environmentally acceptable fashion and eliminates the need for manual removal. The meshed structure of the browse-guard mentioned above is formed into an elongated cylinder with a diameter between 3 and 31/2 inches and a length between 18 and 30 inches, with a 30-inch length being preferred for most applications.
Even though the meshed structure is self-supporting, additional support means for fastening the guard to the ground are required. Previously, several different types of stakes have been utilized, none of them being entirely satisfactory. For example, standard wood lathes, 11/2.times.3/8.times.36 inches, have been used because they are readily available. The lathes are driven at their top ends into the ground and several metal wire ties are used to fasten the grid structure to the stake. When used in hard or rocky ground, a lathe being driven may bow and split or crack. Because the lathes are relatively large and heavy, an installer is limited in the number of lathes that he can carry in a bundle. If metal ties are used, this presents an environmental problem. If environmentally acceptable tie material is used, the tying operation is a slow, time-consuming task.
Other wooden items, such as reject arrow blanks, or hemlock dowels, are used as stakes. However, these items have the drawback that because they are very flexible, they easily break when hammered on an end into hard or rocky ground.